TOKYO: Two lawmakers with serious paralysis took their seats in Japan’s upper house yesterday to cheers from supporters, marking the first time people with severe disabilities have served in the body. Yasuhiko Funago and Eiko Kimura won seats last month in the country’s upper house election and their use of
GOMA (DR Congo): An Ebola epidemic in eastern DR Congo sharply widened Wednesday, the eve of the first anniversary of the outbreak, with one death and another diagnosis reported and the quarantining of 15 people in a previously unaffected province. A total of 1,803 lives have been lost in the
WELLINGTON: A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck near the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu yesterday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. USGS said the quake hit about 178 kilometres north-west of the capital Port Vila at 2:02am at a depth of 179 kilometres. The Pacific Tsunami
TEHRAN: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday a US decision to impose sanctions on Mohammad Javad Zarif (pic) shows they are “afraid” of his top diplomat, as tensions heightened between the arch-enemies. The US Treasury said the sanctions would freeze any of Zaria’s assets in the United States or controlled
AL-OBEID (Sudan): Four schoolchildren were among six protesters shot dead at a rally this week in Sudan, a doctor at a hospital that received the casualties said Wednesday, after five pupils were reported killed. Six people were killed and more than 60 wounded at the demonstration in Al-Obeid on Monday,
HONG KONG: China’s military has released a slick propaganda video showing a drill of armed troops quelling a protest in Hong Kong, in a thinly veiled warning to the city’s pro-democracy movement. The video, posted to social media on Wednesday by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong,
WASHINGTON: The US and South Korea will press ahead with joint military exercises, a Pentagon official said, defying demands from a furious Pyongyang for their cancellation as it carries out a series of weapons tests. North Korea fired what Seoul called two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday after two similar
ADEN: Separate attacks by Shiite rebels and a jihadist suicide bomber killed at least 27 people in Yemen’s government-held second city Aden yesterday, many of them newly trained police cadets, security and medical sources said. The attacks were the first to hit the southern port city in more than a
Scientists in Japan will begin trying to grow human organs in animals after receiving government permission for the first study of its kind in the country. The cutting-edge — but controversial — research involves implanting modified animal embryos with human “induced pluripotent stem” (iPS) cells that can be coaxed into
LONDON: Net profits nearly quadrupled at British bank Barclays in the first half of the year on reduced litigation costs, helping compensate for difficult conditions in retail and investment banking. Net profit of 2.1 billion pounds was a stellar improvement but when heavy legal costs it suffered in the same
